diff --git a/pack-dist.ps1 b/pack-dist.ps1
index 0d99a4f..be0e441 100644
--- a/pack-dist.ps1
+++ b/pack-dist.ps1
@@ -289,22 +289,6 @@ glass may appear rotated.
 Source: https://gitea.mysticmachines.com/VWE/RP412
 "@
 
-# --- the player's own files, back where they were --------------------------
-# Last, so the rebuilt tree cannot overwrite them. The zip below is taken
-# from dist\, so a preserved file would otherwise travel to whoever gets the
-# package - hence the copies are put back only when we are NOT zipping, and a
-# release is always built from a folder with none of them in it.
-if ($kept.Count -gt 0) {
-    if ($Zip) {
-        Write-Host "  -Zip: leaving $($kept.Keys -join ', ') out, so the release ships clean"
-    } else {
-        foreach ($name in $kept.Keys) {
-            [System.IO.File]::WriteAllBytes((Join-Path $dist $name), $kept[$name])
-        }
-        Write-Host "  restored $($kept.Keys -join ', ')"
-    }
-}
-
 # --- summary / optional zip ------------------------------------------------
 $size = (Get-ChildItem $dist -Recurse | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum
 Write-Host ("dist ready: {0:N1} MB" -f ($size / 1MB))
@@ -313,6 +297,10 @@ if ($Zip) {
     $zipPath = Join-Path $root "RedPlanet-$version.zip"
     Write-Host "zipping to $zipPath..."
 
+    # Taken BEFORE the player's files go back, so a release never carries
+    # somebody's callsign, key bindings or window positions to everyone who
+    # downloads it. A fresh unzip must look like a first run.
+    #
     # Everything lives under a single RP412\ folder inside the zip, so
     # unpacking anywhere gives one self-contained game directory instead
     # of scattering files into the extraction folder.
@@ -323,3 +311,14 @@ if ($Zip) {
     Compress-Archive -Path "$stage\RP412" -DestinationPath $zipPath -Force
     Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $stage
 }
+
+# --- the player's own files, back where they were --------------------------
+# Last of all: after the rebuilt tree, so nothing the pack writes can land on
+# top of them, and after the zip, so the release stays clean. Zipping should
+# not cost you your own settings.
+if ($kept.Count -gt 0) {
+    foreach ($name in $kept.Keys) {
+        [System.IO.File]::WriteAllBytes((Join-Path $dist $name), $kept[$name])
+    }
+    Write-Host "  restored $($kept.Keys -join ', ')"
+}